


Your hand

by ladylana



Category: The Technomancer (Video Game)
Genre: Andrew cheers him up, M/M, Short, Zach is a loner, fragmentary - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-18
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-05-25 01:50:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14966531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladylana/pseuds/ladylana
Summary: There's one thing - one thought - that keeps Zachariah Mancer from falling apart. It's a memory of a small, trembling hand, that saved him when he was only a nameless kid from the street. A memory of someone he cherished deeply, but lost due to terrible accident. Now, that hand watches over him again...





	Your hand

He knew what it was all about the moment they called him to Master Ian’s office. He had never been called before, so it was pretty obvious. Even Alan looked somewhat sympathetic when Zachariah went by him in the main hall, accompanied by too many and too interested pairs of eyes. They almost burned a hole in his straightened back. 

He decided that he won’t break. Not because of this. 

Sean was waiting for him, with a sad look on his pale face. Zachariah noticed vaguely that his teacher’s profile was as sharp as it was beautiful. It almost made him cry, but he held back all those treacherous tears. 

“Zachariah, are you okay? Should I accompany you?”

“No, Master, I’m fine. It’s only a formality, right?” 

Sean looked at him with painful sadness, understanding him better that he thought. More that he wanted to be understood. His nose started to itch. 

Sean didn’t comfort him. He could have, but he had decided not to. 

“I will be back shortly, Master.”

“Zachariah, you don’t have to, if…”

“I’m all right, Master. I’ll be all right, Master. It’s nothing.”

He was a Rogue. He was above all those delicate feelings of loss and sadness. He was already used to people coming and going. Like that boy, who came here with him. Whose hand he was holding when they were so sick they barely recognized if they were still alive, sweating terribly, hot and messy, burning with pain but too weak to even whimper. 

Only a memory of shared bolt between their small hands, covered with sweat, still remained. Feeling of flying, his soul freeing, body filling with overwhelming power. 

He was still holding that small hand in his memories. Trembling, delicate hand. 

“I’m sorry, Zachariah, but Nathaniel is dead.”

He was tightly holding that hand.

///

It’s no longer delicate nor trembling. Not that one, on his left side. When Zach’s extending his fingers, they are welcomed by the clank of gears and sharp metal shapes. It should be at least sad, but Andrew smirks and catches Zach’s other hand with this prosthesis.

“This tickles, you know.” 

“This does what?”

There’s a spark in his eyes, before he attacks Zach with both of his hands. His loud laugh resonates happily within the four walls of their room in Noctis. 

“Surprise attack! Take this, master grim face!” 

“Hey!—” Zach was more surprised than anything else, and his body was somewhat late to react. 

Andrew, still smiling, rolled his body with ease, trying to rest it comfortably on top on Zachariah’s chest. He used both of his hands to support himself, and then to gather his lover in them. He smiled with content. 

“You know, sometimes you do that.”

“What do you mean?” 

“You tend to get lost in thoughts. I’m pretty sure they aren’t part of your usual 'Oh, I love this handsome beast, I adore him to little pieces, what did I do to deserve him and his sass, along with that great ass?' train of thoughts.”

Zach sent him one long, silent look, but it only made Andrew’s smile wider. 

“So, care to tell me what are you thinking about so intensively? I’m here if you need some comfort, you know. Or to lend you a willing ear if you only need to talk. To get it off your chest.”

Zach chuckled and kissed his lovable partner. 

“Hey, that’s not what I was talking about--!”

“I’m thinking of you, Andrew. Always only of you.” 

///

She was a sweet girl. Petria, that was her name. Both of her parents were technomancers, and both had died in a war some time before she asked Zach to be her partner. 

“We’ve both lost someone” she said, crying, as Zach stood before her awkwardly. “Your friend… my parents… I just can’t deal with my pain alone. Can you help me?”

She was one of those talented, praised people, whom Zach could admire safely from the distance, not trying to socialize with. He was perfectly fine with being alone. He had his Master, and he received everything he needed from him. 

But her hands were trembling so much… 

“Okay, if you want.”

He remembered being her silent support most of all. How she cried on his shoulder when feelings overwhelmed her, and memories became too heavy to bear alone. She used to search for him in those times, but, in the end, he never even had a chance to hold her hand, when she said her final “goodbye” and moved her burden to a boy closer to her status. Not a Rogue. 

Zach was absolutely okay. People were coming and going. Nothing special about it. 

///

Reading was hard. Patience almost lost his patience when Zach, under his supervision, was trying to decode one of the old texts. They have recovered some of them after moving to Mutant Valley, and they already had been planning another journey to the unknown areas of Mars. Secrets hidden in the ice dome showed them there still were things they could recover and use, and maybe even learn what has been forgotten for so long. 

Zach had borrowed a tablet before coming to the training grounds, as he was requested to do, but most of the time he simply stared at the device, trying to make sense of that mysterious wall of symbols. How the hell Patience was able to decode that and why it seemed so impossible for him?

“—out!” 

His reflexes were good, but not godly. When he felt his hair standing up, and when a warning cry reached his ears, it was too late to dodge. Tablet fell from his hands, when someone jumped and pushed him from the side. A smell of burned fabric followed, and a loud, buzzing noise that ended with a fizz. 

“Watch it!” Andrew shouted at his students, with fastened breathing. His eyes were glittering with fury. “The hell are you doing out there? Ethan, Emily, Kira, get back in line!” 

A trio of clearly petrified from fear students stood in place, with their eyes widened and mouths open. One of the two girls’ hand was still surrounded by small electricity streams. It trembled viciously. 

“It’s all right, it was my fault for not paying attention.” Zach smiled, while collecting himself. “Sorry for spacing out.” 

“No, it’s their fault for not following clear instructions, don’t apologize.” Andrew was firm and strict. Totally in “Master Andrew Mancer” mode. And probably in “after spat with Melvin” mode. Those guys just couldn’t find anything in common, but they still had to work together, and when they did, sparks were flying everywhere. 

“We’re sorry, Great Master.”

“No harm, no worries. Get back to your training, it seems like you need more control over your powers.” 

“Yes, Great Master, right away!” 

After they dispersed, Zach looked apologetically at Andrew, who remained at his side. 

“I’m sorry you had to look out for me—wait, what is that?”

Andrew tried to hide his left side from Zach’s eyes, but he wasn’t fast enough. Two hands caught him and immobilized in place. 

“You got hit.”

“Well, maybe I wasn’t paying enough attention.”

There was a massive tear in the material of his robe, on his left sleeve. Andrew used to cut and adjust all of his shirts before, but after a while, he had decided to cover his prosthesis sometimes, with a small cape attached to his shoulder, or with adjustable sleeve he could button or unbutton at will. He started to do that because his students often asked him about his mechanical arm and that led them to be distracted. Andrew joked that it was for pure esthetical value. 

If, instead of prosthesis, a hand made of flesh and bones would’ve been there…

“Andrew…” Zach’s voice trembled slightly. 

“It’s nothing, Zach. Really. That bolt simply bounced off my arm.” 

Even in this form, it was still l holding him tightly.


End file.
